editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Tanya N. Ballard is a Southern girl, an optimist and a wild dreamer who laughs loudly and often. As an editor for NPR.org , Tanya brainstorms and develops web-only features; collaborates with radio editors and reporters to create compelling web content that complements radio reports; manages online producers and interns; and, line edits stories appearing on the website. Tanya also writes blog posts, commentaries and book reviews, has served as acting supervising editor for Digital Arts, Books and Entertainment; edited for Talk of the Nation and Tell Me More ; filed on-air spots for newscast, and helped curate the NPR Tumblr . Occasionally, she sits in with the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast team and hosts NPR Live! segments. Projects she has worked on include After Pulse ; Teenage Diaries Revisited ; School's Out: The Cost of Dropping Out ; American Dreams: Then And Now ; Americandy: Sweet Land Of Liberty ; Living Large: Obesity In America ; the Cities Project , Farm Fresh Foods ; theNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Tanya Ballard BrownMon, 16 Oct 2017 06:52:34 +0000Tanya Ballard Brownhttp://tpr.org
Tanya Ballard BrownTwo weeks ago he locked arms and knelt with his players before the national anthem, then stood with them as it played. Now, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says players who "disrespect the flag," won't take the field. "...If there is anything that is disrespectful to the flag then we will not play," Jones said Sunday night, according to The Dallas Morning News . "You understand? If we are disrespecting the flag then we won't play. Period." Jones did not specify what he meant by disrespect. The players' union responded on Monday, with executive director DeMaurice Smith saying Jones' comments contradicted those of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. "I look forward to the day when everyone in management can unite and truly embrace and articulate what the flag stands for, liberty and justice for all, instead of some of them just talking about standing. We look forward to continuing our talks with them on this very issue." Last season San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick startedDallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: Players Cannot Disrespect Flag http://tpr.org/post/dallas-cowboys-owner-jerry-jones-players-cannot-disrespect-flag
94229 as http://tpr.orgTue, 10 Oct 2017 04:03:00 +0000Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: Players Cannot Disrespect Flag Tanya Ballard BrownWhen police entered 64-year-old Stephen Paddock's 32nd-floor hotel room at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo says, they found "in excess of 10 rifles." Paddock is suspected of firing down from his room at a crowd of more than 22,000 country music festival attendees. The shooting left at least 58 people dead and 515 injured. A SWAT team used an explosive to breach his room and then "found the suspect dead," says Lombardo. He also says their information suggests that Paddock had been in the hotel room since Thursday. The massacre has left some people questioning how the suspect was able to bring so many guns into the hotel. During a news conference on Monday, Lombardo said that Paddock brought the weapons into the hotel on his own and that he used "a device similar to a hammer" to smash the windows. Randy Sutton, who spent 24 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, told CBS This Morning that Paddock had plenty of time to get the guns to hisLas Vegas Massacre Raises Questions About Hotel Securityhttp://tpr.org/post/las-vegas-massacre-raises-questions-about-hotel-security
93874 as http://tpr.orgMon, 02 Oct 2017 19:28:00 +0000Las Vegas Massacre Raises Questions About Hotel SecurityTanya Ballard Brownhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkF5VhJ0Mq4 This weekend is expected to be a busy one for protesting in the nation's capital, with the Mother of All Rallies, a pro-Trump group that says it wants to preserve American culture ; the March to Protect American Democracy, a group that wants the Trump administration to "defend our democracy from Russian interference" and "protect America from future attacks on our elections"; and the Juggalo March . Not sure who the Juggalos are or why they're protesting? Here's what you should know: 1. Who are they? The Juggalos are fans of Insane Clown Posse, a rap group that calls itself "the most hated band in the world." The name stems from a 1992 ICP song, " The Juggla ," and, according to journalist Patrick Flanary, is a "term of endearment among the fans." "In fact, it was a rallying call from the stage by the frontman, Violent J, several years ago," Flanary told NPR's Rachel Martin in 2014. 2. Are they like the Beyhive or the Beliebers? Well, yes andWho Are The Juggalos And Why Are They Marching In Washington, D.C.?http://tpr.org/post/who-are-juggalos-and-why-are-they-marching-washington-dc
93099 as http://tpr.orgFri, 15 Sep 2017 11:00:00 +0000Who Are The Juggalos And Why Are They Marching In Washington, D.C.?Tanya Ballard BrownThough the violence has ended in Charlottesville, Va., debates and protests continue and Confederate statues and monuments are being removed all over the country. A 2016 report from the Southern Poverty Law Center found as many as 1,500 "symbols of the Confederacy" in the U.S. But who were some of the men memorialized with statues, monuments and memorials in a nod to the Confederacy? Jefferson Davis Jefferson Finis Davis was born in Kentucky but grew up in Mississippi. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1828 and became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Seven years later, Davis resigned his military post after deciding to marry the daughter of his commanding officer — future President Zachary Taylor, who opposed the marriage. His wife, Sarah, died soon after they wed. Davis became a cotton farmer and got involved in politics, eventually winning a seat in Congress in 1845. A year later, he resigned to go fight in the Mexican-American War, where he wasWho Are The Confederate Men Memorialized With Statues? http://tpr.org/post/who-are-confederate-men-memorialized-statues
91732 as http://tpr.orgFri, 18 Aug 2017 15:54:00 +0000Who Are The Confederate Men Memorialized With Statues? Tanya Ballard BrownWhile college campuses struggle with consent , and when and how "no means no," a nearly 40-year-old court case in North Carolina says a person can't be charged with rape if their partner revokes consent during sex. In 1979, the Supreme Court of North Carolina ruled in State v. Way that "if the actual penetration is accomplished with the woman's consent, the accused is not guilty of rape." State Sen. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, wants this changed. In March he introduced the "Revoke Consent For Intercourse" bill that would make it a crime for anyone who continued to "engage in intercourse after consent is withdrawn." The bill hasn't made it out of the Senate's Rules Committee. "North Carolina is the only state in U.S. where no doesn't mean no," Jackson told The Fayetteville Observer . State v. Way is drawing attention because of recent cases in the state. One woman said she agreed to sex with a man at a party in January, but changed her mind when he became violent. She reported the allegedIn North Carolina, No Is Not Always No, If The Sex Has Already Startedhttp://tpr.org/post/north-carolina-no-not-always-no-if-sex-has-already-started
89010 as http://tpr.orgFri, 23 Jun 2017 19:12:00 +0000In North Carolina, No Is Not Always No, If The Sex Has Already StartedTanya Ballard BrownMass shootings in Orlando, Fla. , Alexandria, Va. , and San Francisco during the first two weeks of June — two of them on the same day — have once again put America's complicated relationship with guns in the spotlight. Americans have remained fairly evenly divided between a desire to strengthen gun control measures and to protect gun rights during the past eight years, a Pew Research Center survey taken before the June shootings finds. In the latest poll, 51 percent of respondents said it is more important to control gun ownership, whereas 47 percent said it's more important to protect the right of Americans to own guns. But the divide between Republicans and Democrats who say it's important to protect the right of Americans to own guns has widened since 2000 — from an 18-percentage-point gap to a 54-point gap. This gap is underscored by reactions to the shooting at a congressional baseball practice that sent five people to the hospital earlier this month. Hours after the shooting, UAmericans Agree On Some Gun Restrictions, Pew Survey Findshttp://tpr.org/post/americans-agree-some-gun-restrictions-pew-survey-finds
88933 as http://tpr.orgThu, 22 Jun 2017 16:03:00 +0000Americans Agree On Some Gun Restrictions, Pew Survey FindsTanya Ballard BrownA year ago, a gunman opened fire in Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Deonka Drayton was one of the 49 people killed that night, in what was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Drayton was 32 at the time, and had a son with Emily Addison. "She had a beautiful voice, the most amazing smile, and she smelled so good all the time," Addison said during a recent visit to StoryCorps. The two moved to Florida together in 2012, and Drayton hated the heat. "But it did not matter how hot it was outside, she would go outside and play ball with our son," 37-year-old Addison said. "And she used to always tell me that, as long as she was alive, our son and I would never want for anything. And she kept her word." The night she was killed, Drayton sent texts to Addison. "She said that she was scared; people were shot," Addison recounted. "But when our son is asleep, we turn our ringers off. And I feel like I wasn't there for her when she needed me the most." When she finally saw theWhat One Family Lost In Pulse Nightclub A Year Agohttp://tpr.org/post/what-one-family-lost-pulse-nightclub-year-ago
88257 as http://tpr.orgFri, 09 Jun 2017 08:40:00 +0000What One Family Lost In Pulse Nightclub A Year AgoTanya Ballard BrownWhen Anthony Planakis was going through the New York Police Academy, they told him to write his interests down on a little card. "Beekeeping, of course I put that down," says 54-year-old Planakis, who is a fourth generation beekeeper. "And the very first job, the sergeant comes right up to me and I just look up and go, 'Hey, Sarge,' and he goes, 'Bees?' and I go, 'Yeah, where?' 'Harlem.' And I go, 'Cool.' That was it, that was the first job I handled," he says. And that's how he became the department's unofficial beekeeper starting in 1995, earning him the nickname Tony Bees. Planakis has been handling hives for 40 years and keeps them in his backyard in Queens and on a property in Connecticut. "Whenever I'm working a swarm, I hear nothing around me," he says. "I mean you can have a jackhammer running down below and I wouldn't even hear it. I'm in the perfect world now. Actually that's the only time I feel safe. I'm never scared, never afraid. So, uh, I think it's in my blood." ButProtect, Serve And Take Care Of The Beeshttp://tpr.org/post/protect-serve-and-take-care-bees
87910 as http://tpr.orgFri, 02 Jun 2017 09:02:00 +0000Protect, Serve And Take Care Of The BeesTanya Ballard BrownRenowned sports writer and commentator Frank Deford, 78, died on Sunday, just a few weeks after his last piece aired on Morning Edition . He had recorded 1,656 commentaries for NPR over nearly 40 years. Deford left everything on the field when choosing topics for his commentaries. One of his early 1980 pieces argued that losing teams didn't deserve support, and later that year he opined that the Heisman Trophy was "the second stupidest award given in sports." In 1992, he told us "television coverage of football is abysmal. It stinks." A few years later, he weighed in on then-rookie NBA player Jason Williams' nickname, "White Chocolate." But Deford wasn't always the sports curmudgeon , as Jon Wertheim, executive editor for Sports Illustrated , told Morning Edition . "I think there was a real versatility to him," said Wertheim, who knew Deford for more than 20 years. Many sports writers, Wertheim said, got into the business because of Deford. "He could write with empathy, compassion, andThe 'Best Of' Frank Deford, According To Frank Defordhttp://tpr.org/post/best-frank-deford-according-frank-deford
87741 as http://tpr.orgTue, 30 May 2017 19:39:00 +0000The 'Best Of' Frank Deford, According To Frank DefordTanya Ballard BrownManuel Cuevas moved to the U.S. from Mexico in the late 1950s to pursue his calling as a tailor. He started sewing when he was 7 when most kids were occupied with other things, such as playing. "The guys at school were more about playing ball and the slingshots," 78-year-old Manuel explained to his daughter, Morelia, at StoryCorps in Nashville. "That never interested me. I was really an outcast. I'd go to bed and I'd dream about fabrics and leathers and about the things that I'm going to make the next day." And he had a general philosophy about the clothes that he created, which have earned him the nickname the "Rhinestone Rembrandt." "Well, you know, a pretty dress is not necessarily a pretty dress, it's the person that's carrying that dress," Manuel says. "I remember this guy wanted a John Wayne shirt, and the guy says, 'I don't see John Wayne in the mirror.' I said, 'Neither do I. I can make you a John Wayne shirt, but I cannot make John Wayne out of you, you know.'" He also makesThis Country Music Tailor Is Known As 'The Rhinestone Rembrandt'http://tpr.org/post/country-music-tailor-known-rhinestone-rembrandt
84776 as http://tpr.orgFri, 31 Mar 2017 09:11:00 +0000This Country Music Tailor Is Known As 'The Rhinestone Rembrandt'Tanya Ballard BrownStare hard at your March Madness brackets because the weekend is over and we are down to the Final Four. When South Carolina faces Gonzaga in the NCAA final four playoffs in Arizona on Saturday, it will be the first time both the seventh-seeded Gamecocks and the No. 1 seeded Bulldogs have played their way into the semifinals. The Oregon Ducks, which haven't been in the final four since they won the very first tournament back in 1939, will have to outplay the UNC Tarheels who were last in the Final Four, well, last year, and has, according to the Los Angeles Times , made more Final Four appearances than any other team. A lot of unexpected teams are in the mix this year and many people didn't see the basketballs bouncing this way, including Gary Parrish of CBS Sports : I had Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas and UCLA heading to Phoenix. So this is not the Final Four I expected. But let's be honest. This is not the Final Four you expected either. South Carolina? Who had South Carolina winning theThe Final Four: UNC-Chapel Hill And Oregon, South Carolina And Gonzagahttp://tpr.org/post/final-four-unc-chapel-hill-v-oregon-and-south-carolina-v-gonzaga
84537 as http://tpr.orgMon, 27 Mar 2017 05:38:00 +0000The Final Four: UNC-Chapel Hill And Oregon, South Carolina And GonzagaTanya Ballard BrownAs we mourn the golf great Arnold Palmer , we acknowledge another contribution he made to our culture: the tasty and refreshing iced tea and lemonade beverage that carries his name. Over his long career, Palmer won seven majors, 62 PGA Tour events, the Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open. However, it was his working-class background — Palmer's dad was a greenskeeper and golf pro — as well as his humble spirit that helped the now-iconic sports figure grow famous. So the nonalcoholic concoction that Palmer stirred up fit with his plainspoken persona. But how did Palmer come up with the eponymous refreshment? In a 2013 episode of ESPN's 30 for 30 , the sports hero explained how it just poured out of him one afternoon in his Pennsylvania kitchen. As he recalled, he asked his wife to make a big pitcher of iced tea and put a little lemonade in it. "We mixed it up and I got the solution about where I wanted it and I put the lemonade in it, and I had it for lunch," Palmer said. FromHow Arnold Palmer Hit A Hole-In-One With His Signature Drinkhttp://tpr.org/post/how-arnold-palmer-hit-hole-one-his-signature-drink
76193 as http://tpr.orgMon, 26 Sep 2016 19:50:00 +0000How Arnold Palmer Hit A Hole-In-One With His Signature DrinkTanya Ballard BrownWhen peals ring out from a 130-year-old church bell at the Sept. 24 dedication ceremony for the National Museum of African American History and Culture , they will signal the end of a long journey. The historic "Freedom Bell" usually hangs in Williamsburg, Va., in the tower of the First Baptist Church, which was founded by slaves. It started making its way to Washington, D.C., on Monday, according to The Associated Press, in order to herald this latest historical event. "The connection between a congregation founded in 1776, the forging of First Baptist Church, the first black president opening the first national African-American museum, all of those dots are being connected," the Rev. Reginald Davis told WVEC. But in truth, it took more than a few people, and a century's worth of starts and stops, to shift the museum from conversation to construction. "A long time coming" The idea of the museum was first proposed in 1915 by black veterans of the Civil War. A year later, Rep. Leonidas100 Years In The Making, Black History And Culture Museum Ready For Revealhttp://tpr.org/post/100-years-making-black-history-and-culture-museum-ready-reveal
75651 as http://tpr.orgWed, 14 Sep 2016 13:15:00 +0000100 Years In The Making, Black History And Culture Museum Ready For RevealTanya Ballard BrownAttorney General Loretta Lynch testified before the House Judiciary Committee for several hours on Tuesday, fielding questions about the probe of Hillary Clinton's emails during her tenure as secretary of state, the backlog of cases in immigration courts, the mass shooting in Orlando, the two police shooting deaths in Minnesota and Louisiana, and the murders of police officers in Dallas, among other things. But not surprisingly, the Clinton emails — and Lynch's decision to accept FBI Director James Comey's recommendation not to bring charges against the Democratic presidential hopeful — dominated the hearing. Let's mine those hours of testimony for these highlights: 1. Why Hillary Clinton should not get a pass Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., questioned whether someone who was not in Clinton's position would have fared as well with the FBI as she did. He then went on to lay out reasons he thinks she was given an unwarranted pass: 2. Why didn't Lynch remove herself from the caseLISTEN: 8 Excerpts From The Attorney General's Post-July 4 Grilling On Capitol Hillhttp://tpr.org/post/listen-8-excerpts-attorney-generals-post-july-4-grilling-capitol-hill
72493 as http://tpr.orgTue, 12 Jul 2016 21:43:00 +0000LISTEN: 8 Excerpts From The Attorney General's Post-July 4 Grilling On Capitol HillTanya Ballard BrownLast updated July 10, 9:23 a.m. ET People across the country joined protests and held vigils late this week, following two highly publicized police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota. As those incidents dominated headlines and social media, a sniper targeted law enforcement at a peaceful protest in Dallas, killing five police officers and shocking the nation. On Saturday, President Obama rejected the notion that these latest tragedies portended the country's return to an era of racial brutality. "You're not seeing riots and you're not seeing police going after people who are protesting peacefully," he said from Warsaw, Poland, where he was attending a NATO summit. "You've seen almost uniformly peaceful protests and you've seen, uniformly, police handling those protests with professionalism." Here are scenes of protest, prayer and activism from around the country. Dallas Since Thursday's shooting left five police officers dead, several blocks of downtown Dallas have been blockaded,The Days After: A Nation Reacts To The Week's Violencehttp://tpr.org/post/days-after-nation-reacts-weeks-violence
72365 as http://tpr.orgSat, 09 Jul 2016 22:36:00 +0000The Days After: A Nation Reacts To The Week's ViolenceTanya Ballard Brown#NPRreads is a weekly feature on Twitter and on The Two-Way. The premise is simple: Correspondents, editors and producers from our newsroom share the pieces that have kept them reading, using the #NPRreads hashtag. Each weekend, we highlight some of the best stories. From Tanya Ballard Brown, an NPR.org editor: When I saw the teaser for Evan Hughes' GQ story about a man who served as the official videographer at Ground Zero after Sept. 11, who became a suspect in his wife's death which occurred just a few months after the national tragedy in New York City — and who was now a folk hero in Argentina because he claimed the U.S. government knew about the World Trade Center attacks before they happened — there was NO WAY I could pass up reading this story. An excerpt: The U.S. authorities, he said, know he is innocent in Nancy's death. The real reason they're after him is that the United States has dark secrets to hide about the September 11 attacks. Sonnenfeld and Paula claimed they had#NPRreads: Finding A Point Of Viewhttp://tpr.org/post/nprreads-finding-point-view
72018 as http://tpr.orgSat, 02 Jul 2016 12:52:00 +0000#NPRreads: Finding A Point Of ViewTanya Ballard BrownMore than 2 million New Zealanders voted to keep the Union Jack on their national flag, ending a 10-month process and squashing a move Prime Minister John Key said would make it easier to distinguish from Australia's flag and bolster national pride. The current flag has been the national symbol for 114 years, according to The Associated Press. The rejected design, which featured a silver fern, was selected from more than 10,000 submissions from the public. Some people called a flag on the play over the estimated price tag : NZ$26 million, which is about $17 million in U.S. currency. "Naturally I'm a little bit disappointed the flag didn't change tonight," Key told reporters on Thursday . But he accepted the decision, tweeting: And, strangely, American comedian and actor Andy Richter seemed to follow the whole thing really closely, even offering up his flag choice: The preliminary voting result was announced on Thursday, and final numbers are expected next week. As a reminder, here's aThe People Have Spoken: No New Flag For New Zealandhttp://tpr.org/post/people-have-spoken-no-new-flag-new-zealand
67073 as http://tpr.orgThu, 24 Mar 2016 10:30:00 +0000The People Have Spoken: No New Flag For New ZealandTanya Ballard BrownWhat Do Bears And Bulls Have To Do With Our Investments?http://tpr.org/post/what-do-bears-and-bulls-have-do-our-investments
63899 as http://tpr.orgFri, 22 Jan 2016 19:24:00 +0000What Do Bears And Bulls Have To Do With Our Investments?Tanya Ballard BrownA totem pole stolen by actor John Barrymore in 1931 that later ended up as a yard decoration for actor Vincent Price was returned to Alaska tribal members on Thursday. The Associated Press reports that the stolen pole was one of more than 100 that once stood in the old village of Tuxecan on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, which was inhabited by the Tlingit people. Barrymore — grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore — took the approximately 40-foot-tall totem pole from an unoccupied village during a yacht trip along the Alaska coast in 1931. The totem pole has carved images of a killer whale, a raven, an eagle and a wolf, and the crew sawed it in three pieces. Barrymore later displayed it in his garden. When the actor died, horror flick star Price and his wife bought the totem pole, which they then stuck in their yard as decoration, too. In 1981, the Prices donated it to the Honolulu Museum of Art. Officials at the museum didn't know the totem pole was stolen, and after the top sectionTotem Pole Stolen 84 Years Ago By Actor John Barrymore Goes Home http://tpr.org/post/totem-pole-stolen-84-years-ago-actor-john-barrymore-goes-home
59360 as http://tpr.orgFri, 23 Oct 2015 11:04:00 +0000Totem Pole Stolen 84 Years Ago By Actor John Barrymore Goes Home Tanya Ballard BrownNew Delhi officials urged drivers to park their cars and use public transportation Thursday, in a new effort to combat air pollution. A major road closed for five hours and residents were encouraged to take public transportation, the Associated Press reported. Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the state of Delhi, and his cabinet colleagues, led cyclists along the four-mile-long route, on the first of what will be a series of days aimed at cleaning the city's air. Kejriwal told AP: "All of us have to do our bit to decongest the roads and to reduce pollution. People should leave their cars and start using public transport and bicycles." According to CNN , free rickshaw rides were offered, as those three-wheeled vehicles run on compressed natural gas rather than diesel or gasoline. Delhi's transport minister Gopal Rai, who met with auto unions before the event enlisting their support , told reporters : "We want to encourage people to use buses, the metro, rickshaws and other publicNew Delhi Steers Drivers To Park Cars So Residents Can Breathe Easierhttp://tpr.org/post/new-delhi-steers-residents-park-cars-so-residents-can-breathe-easier
59287 as http://tpr.orgThu, 22 Oct 2015 09:08:00 +0000New Delhi Steers Drivers To Park Cars So Residents Can Breathe Easier